Search icon

Life

21st Apr 2016

US retail chain Target refuse to abide by North Carolina’s transphobic bathroom laws

'Everyone deserves to feel like they belong."

Ellen Tannam

It has been several weeks since the decision to implement a transphobic bathroom bill in the state of North Carolina in the US.

The bill means that those who identify as different to the gender they were assigned at birth are no longer allowed use the bathroom of their preferred gender, which is an upsetting and distressing thing for transgender people to have to endure.

In an announcement on their website, popular retail company Target has said they will be ignoring the rules set out in the bill, and will allow all customers to use their preferred bathrooms.

“We believe that everyone — every team member, every guest, and every community —deserves to be protected from discrimination, and treated equally,” the company said in its statement. “Consistent with this belief, Target supports the federal Equality Act, which provides protections to LGBT individuals, and opposes action that enables discrimination.”

The Federal Equality act would mean that the 1964 Civil Rights act would be reworked to include protections around sexual orientation and gender identity, and is currently supported by Obama, but is stuck in Congress at present.

“Given the specific questions these legislative proposals raised about how we manage our fitting rooms and restrooms, we felt it was important to state our position. Everyone deserves to feel like they belong. And you’ll always be accepted, respected and welcomed at Target.”

Social-Pride-ABullseyeView